Sammy is Home

On December 31, 2008 Sammy went to his forever home! He has a cat sister and brother, and is doing fabulous. Felicia works at the rehab vet where he goes, and is the best person I could ever imagine to take him. He is allowed on couches and roams her big yard. I imagine his days are filled with the best dreams as he snores away his days on a chair he claimed as his own. Thank you everyone for the many emails and support during my year (almost a year to the day) I got to spend working with him.

Sammy Wants a Home

I am a smiling, tail wagging, snuggly, three legged lab. I was found as a stray in Tennessee. A rescue group helped me get to the Animal Service League. I am estimated to be 7 to 8 years old. It is unknown how Sammy’s front right leg came to be missing. The strain of trying to get around, has created damage to his hind legs. Thanks to the generosity of many kind folks, Sammy now has his very own custom built cart. He enjoys being taken out for a real stroll once a day for about thirty minutes. He can get around a home fairly well with the power of his three legs. Sammy is now doing physical therapy at a rehabilitation facility (to strengthen his muscles and help his gait), goes on outings to the park, and loves riding in the car.

So what does Sammy need now? A loving home... of course loving Sammy is the easy part. He needs a home that will not feel sorry for him! Ideally, he will need to continue therapy with monthly visits to keep help with the strain of his lost leg. He gets along well with other dogs in public settings but he is a food and toy guarder. If there are no toys or bones etc. and supervised, set feeding times, he would probably enjoy the company of another dog. He has excellent manners, is non destructive and is housebroken. He loves children, and is very easy going. He will snuggle his way right into any  family. His favorite activities are curling up in laps, pets, and of course long walks in his cart.

Sammy can be met in person at Adoption Days

Saturdays 1 to 3 pm, Petco on Monroe Avenue in Pittsford &
Sundays from 1-3 at PetSaver in Stone Ridge Plaza in Greece

Contact Animal Service League at 342-6099 or www.animalserviceleagueny.org

Loving Whirlpool Baths

Sammy's best picture in the Haku-Med whirlpool bath.  Here you can see how he is so completely relaxed (so relaxed that we've taken to giving him ridiculous hair styles while he's in it- here he is sporting a faux hawk).  He also has a love of his yellow floating pillow in it. This is the treatment I hope his adoptive family continues, as it completely relaxes him, and helps him so much.  When he is getting in, he is completely smiling and he has learned that when it beeps, he has to get out.  He sulks a bit after getting out, until toweling off, his second favorite activity! Tomorrow Sammy's story will be on the radio, on Fickle 93.3 at *gasp* 7:40 am.  Sammy won't have to get up, but Barkley and I will.   

Sammy woos another lady

I'm sitting here in a hotel in the middle of no where (work travel).  So, a brief post.  First, at PT the other day, Sammy actually walked!  A real gait, of a normal dog.  He has a hopping sort of gait, and his back moves up and down, well, suddenly he walked on the treadmill!  It happened when he was doing his usual "cheating", which is when he puts his front paw on the 2 inch front part of the treadmill that does work.  We always discourage his cheating, but suddenly this week when he cheated, he started walking.  Me and L.  both looked at each other shocked.  Had we just seen that?  So, we encouraged him to cheat, and he walked again!  He wasn't even tired at all, so he went 2 extra minutes.  It was crazy to see him walk and not struggle.  Now we need to figure out how to get him to do it outside of the comfort of the water tank. 

In other news, Sammy has so many pen pals now from different web sites, and he is now an official member of Cassie's Three Legged Dog Club.  This is his new lady friend, Emma. . . She writes him (well, her mom takes dictation for her).  Because from what I've heard and read, she's a little lab genius like Sammy.  Here is her latest letter! 

Hi everyone!

My name is Emma. I want to let everyone know how great us three-legged dogs are, so my bud Sammy can find himself a good home. My owner found me when I had been at the shelter for a while and then in a foster home. She didn't know how lucky she was to bring my happy, confident, princess self home with her. I now take her for walks around the neighborhood....I think I manage to keep her outside about two hours a day! My favorite activity is chasing squirrels, and let me tell you....I may be missing a front leg, but I'm darn good at it! By the way...I'm super fast. My bud Sammy will be able to adjust to a new home, like me, in no time. I gotta tell ya', at first new things made me a little nervous...like stairs. But, us pooches are quick learners...especially us tripods. What we're missing in a leg we make up for in charm and smarts. So, give my bud Sammy a chance and he'll make sure you never go without love, attention and much more. Oh, my, and such an added bonus that Sammy has his own set of wheels. I'm so jealous!

Sammy has friends!

In the past few days, a few wonderful people around the country have emailed me with encouragement for Sammy.  He is now featured at Cassie's Three Legged Dog Club.  Which is good, because the past few days, he has been very tired and very demanding.  He also hasn't been in his cart with me lately very much (I've been doing PT mostly), so he has been a drunk driver while walking with me.  Just wanting to run into me and be pet instead of walking.  Oh Mr. Sammy.  I have to remind myself that he isn't regressing, he's just used to other people walking him in his cart.  He is ready for a home, and someone to make him walk on only one side of them, and give him one set of commands.  I say that with every post lately, but I think about it all the time.  So toady I leave you with Sammy and his carrot.  I bought him a squeaky carrot last week, and you can see the parts of it starting to come off five minutes after we got it back into his pen (he did carry it around the store for a while, which was soooo cute). 

Cars vs. Dog Carts

I've been mostly taking Sammy to therapy, and Petco, so every time I see him, he gets to go for a ride.  So, yesterday, I went to just work out with him in his cart.  He was sooo mad that he wasn't getting a ride, so he just stopped in his cart and barked at the car.  He barked as I made him walk up the hill with me.  Then he realized how lucky he was, and we went for a nice 20 minute walk.  He was a bit of a drunken driver in his cart, weaving in front of me over and over again.  I'm going to have to start figuring out how to train him to "heel" in his cart, and stay on one side.  He used to be great staying on my right (he seems to do better on that side), but yesterday he was a mess!  But he was happy. 

This is a fuzzy picture of Sammy at his new favorite activity at Thera-Vet!  They put the towels over his head and he barks and plays peek-a-boo.  Oh Sammy- he's breaking my heart more and more each day.  I leave you with the way I leave Sammy every day, tired, exhausted, and in his pen at ASL.  I'm breaking out the sad Sammy pictures now.  He wants to come live on a couch- heck he'd be happy with a comfy bed on the floor. 

 

Sammy called and he wants to come home with you.

After a week out of town for me, I was greeted at the shelter by very loud barks of "hello" and "where were you?"  Sammy hopped into my car off to Thera-Vet.  He was so happy and smiling to see me.  He now sits up sometimes in the car to look out the window, and if the temperature is anywhere above freezing I open the window and let him sniff the air.  He loves it.  He loves the car.  He's just happy.  

But as spring approaches, and I start thinking about dog walking and all the things Barkley loves outside, I want a home even more desperately for Sammy.  He's ready for someone to walk him every day and stretch out his legs every day.  I wish I could get him on a walk daily, but I'm there at least 3 times a week already, and my schedule has been insane.  

On an exciting note- Sammy is now in second place on the leader board at Thera-Vet He is at 16 minutes - 8 minutes - break - 8 minutes.  He is only 2 minutes away from the leader.  And the leader has 4 legs!  He's making incredible progress.  He used to be the lowest on the board.  

Sammy will be at Petco tomorrow, Saturday from 1-3.  Please stop by to visit and fall in love.